By IANS
Srinagar : Paucity of funds won't be allowed to hamper the developmental progress of Jammu and Kashmir, union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here Tuesday.
"The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has given me a blank cheque for Jammu and Kashmir state," he said.
The health minister announced Rs.50 million for modernising Kashmir Valley's major maternity hospital, the 'Lal Ded' hospital in summer capital Srinagar.
He announced another Rs.50 million for a similar facility in the winter capital of Jammu.
Earlier, Ramadoss inaugurated a unani research institute inside the campus of the Kashmir University.
Speaking at the inauguration, Ramadoss said Kashmir had a huge potential for growth of medicinal plants and other beneficial herbs which had a global market.
He said the central government had decided to set up an office of the national spice board in Srinagar which would support and sustain the otherwise declining saffron trade in the valley.
Kashmir saffron was once known the world over for its fragrance and purity. It has been passing through tough times for the last many years.
"It is because of tough competition from high quality saffron from Iran as well as the havoc played by the middlemen in this field," said Sajad Ahmad, 39, a saffron grower from the south Kashmir Pampore town where saffron is grown on a large scale.
Sajad blamed the local authorities for their failure to address the problems of saffron growers.
"For the last many years now a strange disease has infected our crop that affects both production and quality," he said.